Blown Transmission

[hollywoodstang]

Sup guys~

I have a q for you

While i was driving very hard(LOL), i shift from 4th to 5th and it made a pop noise, Then i could not get into 5th at all, and the shifter got really really hard stiff, I managed to drive home in 4th, but it barely gets into any gear now....unless you slam it in.

Is this sign of blown transmission? or something else?

The clutch feels normal since my clutch is only 2 days old(King cobra)

This is very frustrating,

Let me know

 

[fordtech28]

check the cable it might be ready to break

 

[revhead347]

More likely a clutch issue. Most likely the cable, but sometimes new stuff does fail. How hard is it to get in gear when the engine is off?

Kurt

 

[hollywoodstang]

More likely a clutch issue. Most likely the cable, but sometimes new stuff does fail. How hard is it to get in gear when the engine is off?

Kurt

Doesn't wanna get into any gear at all, i can still push the clutch pedal in, but i can't shift into any gear, it is stiff as hell...

 

[hollywoodstang]

I checked, The cable and the clutch is fine, It's the tranny, But i am no expert, i got TR3350 sitting in the garage just in case this stuff happens but i have no clue what i need to make the 3550 fit into this car.

May be you can help me Kurt as always, lol

Let me know

 

[Adam95GT]

I checked, The cable and the clutch is fine, It's the tranny, But i am no expert, i got TR3350 sitting in the garage just in case this stuff happens but i have no clue what i need to make the 3550 fit into this car.

May be you can help me Kurt as always, lol

Let me know

Maybe you bent something up with the forks...


im not 100% sure on the tr 3550 but if its for a fox you need the bell and the clutch fork... not sure what spline it is etc.

 

[hollywoodstang]

Anyone know what i need? The 3550 i got only have 5000 miles on it, I bought it while back just in case this thing happens, I know i am gonna be able to use my MGW shifter(selling it to whoever needs it, 500 miles on it) with the new transmission so i know i need a new shifter,

Do i need different bell-housing? fork? driveshaft spacer and what else?

let me know

 

[revhead347]

You need the following to use the TR-3550.

1. A Tremec Bellhousing. There is only one available for a Mustang
2. A clutch fork for a foxbody.
3. Clutch fork Dustcover for a foxbody (This is not necessary. You can just go without a dustcover)
4. Driveshaft spacer. I know Steeda Makes one. I think there are other ones available too.
5. Shifter if the 3550 didn't come with one

You can use the stock cross member. You can try turning it around to get it to work. You will probably have to auger out the holes a little. The T-5 shifter will not work on the 3550. The Tremec 3550 is designed to be a direct swap for a Fox body, so it is 5/8" shorter than your T-5. That is why you need the spacer for the driveshaft. That is also why you need a fox clutch fork. Your stock exhaust hangers will not work either. You can just leave the exhaust hanging for now. You have to fab up your own hangers if you want them. I welded a set of washers to some S-hooks I got from home depot. Then mounted those to a piece of quarter inch steel about 4 inches long that I bolted to the transmission mount. That's all I can think of. That should be everything.

Kurt

 

[revhead347]

Just to be clear, the bellhousing for the Tremec is not a stock foxbody T-5 bellhousing. It is a specific for that transmission. A 3550 has a 10 spline input shaft, and a 28 spline output shaft, same as stock. A Tremec TKO has a 26 spline input shaft, and a 31 spline output shaft. It is a very common mod to swap a 3550 up to a TKO input shaft, because it's much stronger and it's not expensive. Make sure you have a 10 spline input shaft.

Kurt

 

[hollywoodstang]

Just to be clear, the bellhousing for the Tremec is not a stock foxbody T-5 bellhousing. It is a specific for that transmission. A 3550 has a 10 spline input shaft, and a 28 spline output shaft, same as stock. A Tremec TKO has a 26 spline input shaft, and a 31 spline output shaft. It is a very common mod to swap a 3550 up to a TKO input shaft, because it's much stronger and it's not expensive. Make sure you have a 10 spline input shaft.

Kurt

Thanks Kurt,

You always been great help, I will make this thing has 10 spline.

I Will report back how it goes, lol

ONE More question~

How much power does this 3550 can handle? Am i gonna break it again on first day of power-shifting? will this tranny handle me launching the car at 4500RPM on street drag radials?

 

[revhead347]

I launched my car at 6000rpms on my 3550 for years. It's not a bullet proof tranny, but it holds up to quite a bit of abuse. Over time you can expect things to break. I broke the original 10 spline shaft, but it took years for it to happen. I then upgraded it to a TKO input shaft. I also broke a couple teeth off of 3rd gear. I'm not sure how much power I was putting down when I was launching it that hard. I had an 80 shot on the car at the time, so I'm guessing around 550 rwtq. The transmission is rated for 325 ft.lbs of torque, but I can tell you that it definately handles a lot more than that. I think you will do just fine with street radials and 4500rpm launches.

Kurt

 

[hollywoodstang]

Thanks Kurt,

I will try to take it easy this time

 

[Adam95GT]

if you need a buyer for the MGW i might have someone lined up for you! its pretty much a cult product and my friend needs a second for his new stang. PM me a price shipped to the same place as before.

Thanks.

 

[revhead347]

Oh, I forgot one minor detail. The bellhousing on a stock SN is thicker on the top where it bolts to the motor, and the bolts are longer. So you are either going to have to get shorter bolts at the top, or use a bunch of 7/16" washers. If you go with shorter bolts, they are 7/16" x 14 bolts.

Kurt

 

[hollywoodstang]

Oh, I forgot one minor detail. The bellhousing on a stock SN is thicker on the top where it bolts to the motor, and the bolts are longer. So you are either going to have to get shorter bolts at the top, or use a bunch of 7/16" washers. If you go with shorter bolts, they are 7/16" x 14 bolts.

Kurt

Thanks Kurt,

Right now i am looking around for the bellhousing and driveshaft spacer, shifter for the 3350, The one that came with kinda suck...and i don't have the stock shifter handle, So it's not gonna work anyhow.

I got the fox fork(lol), found out it is 10 spline shaft so my stock 20 mile old clutch and my expensive flywheel will still work(Thank god! I didn't have to buy these again...)

I am selling my brand new Steeda wheels to finance these, Sucks but it is what it is...

Adam; the shifter is already sold...as soon as i posted it someone bought it, Sorry But i do have 2 Silver 18x9 FR500 wheels in new condition, Let me know if you find someone who wants these, I wanna sell them to finance my tranny swap. I only have 2 wheels, and my brand new Steeda wheels )

 

[revhead347]

Here is the spacer you need.

Steeda Hardcore Driveshaft Spacer 11/16" - Ford Mustang

The bellhousing shouldn't be hard to come by. I'm sure Hanlon Motorsports sells them. I bought mine for under $200, I think it was like $147. The scattershields are like $440, but you don't really need a scattershield.

The shifters for the 3550s are more money than T-5 shifters, simply because there is less demand for them. I use a B&M Ripper, which is a very nice piece. I paid about $230 new for it. The B&Ms don't have stop screws on them anymore, which isn't an issue for the 3550 because the transmission has positive stops built in, so you can't overshift it. The problem with most of the aftermarket shifters is it's a one piece handle on the 3550. Everytime you take the transmission out, the shifter has to come completely off. You also have to lower the transmission down to get to all 6 bolts easily. So when you put it in the car, make sure you bolt the shifter on before you raise the transmission into place and attach the cross member. It's a bit of a hassle, but it's well worth it. The 3550 is about a million times better than a stock T-5. I know it's a lot of money to come up with right now, but this transmission is the last transmission you'll have to put in your Mustang.

Kurt

 

[99FiveOh]

Just wanted to point out that the earlier Fox (early 80's) that had the 4 speed SROD trannies used the same bellhousing the 3550 uses. In case you find one of those.

 

[revhead347]

Just wanted to point out that the earlier Fox (early 80's) that had the 4 speed SROD trannies used the same bellhousing the 3550 uses. In case you find one of those.

No kidding. Good info to know.

Kurt

 

[hollywoodstang]

Kurt.

Almost man, Almost,

Gonna run to the hardware store in the morning to get some 7/16x14 bolts as you said, I got the Bell-housing, Fork, Still have to order the driveshaft spacer, I am gonna look around locally(MM might have it) or i will order it in the morning, I will have to deal with the tremec shifter for now with no handle....

If i get the different shifter later is there any way i can install it from the inside the car? Or do i have to drop the tranny again?

Thanks

 

[99FiveOh]

If you want, you can go ahead and install the tranny and run without a Driveshaft spacer. Hell, I put down 425 s/c'd rwhp and equal torque in my old 95 without a spacer and it was just fine. Minimal vibrations at 120 mph and there was plenty of yoke engagement into the trans. I mean, I'm not advocating leaving the spacer out permanently, however, if you're running with bolt-on's and no boost I think you'll be just fine.

And as a side note when I did finally get around to installing a driveshaft spacer that's when all hell broke loose! A long, losing battle with vibrations started to which the final remedy was, pull the damn spacer back out and all was good again. I never totally got rid of all the vibes from the 3550 and ended up selling it and buying another T5. Good Luck!